Brian Morris

Prof Brian Morris

Emeritus Professor Brian J Morris, DSc, PhD, is a retired professor of molecular biology, formerly at the University of Sydney. He is a prolific writer of scientific papers, with a distinguished record in his specialties, high blood pressure and the genetics of cardiovascular disease. He is also one of the highest-profile promoters of infant circumcision. In this, his record is not so distinguished.

He endorses every possible reason for infant male genital cutting, no matter how trivial:

The key point of the recently released RACP statement on circumcision is that the RACP believes that at the present time there is not evidence to support routine circumcision of newborn and infant males.

Your article sends a dangerous public health message that circumcision prevents HIV transmission. It is vital that everyone engage in safe sexual practices such as condom use, whether circumcised or not.

...

It should be noted that Professor Morris, quoted in your report, is not a member of the RACP and is not and has not been engaged as a reviewer for the College.Yours faithfully,

His reference: 20 out of 75 boys undergoing elective circumcision had frenular chordee

Griffin AS and Kroovand RL, "Frenular Chordee: Implications and Treatment"

Morris et al.: 3.6% of "uncircumcised" boys have had a UTI by the time they are 16.
Reference: Coulthard MG, Lambert HJ, Keir MJ. Occurrence of renal scars in children after their first referral for urinary tract infection. . BMJ 1997; 315: 918-919.

Greer: Rather than, than actually remove healthy tissue in order to avoid possible disease, we should be thinking of attacking the diseases, that we've got a wrong priority there.

Male genital mutilation is seldom condemned. Men mutilate the genitals of other men... In England a doctor will be struck off the medical register if it is found that he has carried out a female circumcision of any kind… . Any suggestion that male genital mutilation should be outlawed would be understood to be a frontal attack on the cultural identity of Jews and Muslims.

Notwithstanding, the opinion that male circumcision might be bad for babies, bad for sex and bad for men is steadily gaining ground… in the US between 60 per cent and 70 per cent of male babies will have their foreskins surgically removed. No UN agency has uttered a single protocol condemning the widespread practice of male genital mutilation, which will not be challenged until doctors start to be sued in large numbers by men they mutilated as infants. Silence on the question of male circumcision is evidence of the political power both of the communities where a circumcised penis is considered an essential identifying mark and of the practitioners who continue to do it for no good reason. Silence about male mutilation in our own countries combines nicely with noisiness on female mutilation in other countries to reinforce our notions of cultural superiority.

In 2004, the Professional Services Review Determining Authority resolved to reprimand and counsel Dr Russell, and fine him $A4,488.88 for opportunistically diagnosing tongue-tie on boys referred to him for circumcision in 1999.

'...Morris states in a recent e-letter that Donovan “and other senior academic colleagues in Australia have come a long way in the past 15 years and now universally congratulate me for being right about IMC all those years ago”. It is unclear what specifically Morris is referring to. ...

... In response to an email from one of the present authors, Donovan stated: “My stance hasn’t really changed much [in the past 15 years],” and that if he lived in a developed nation he “probably wouldn’t bother” with infant circumcision.'

A video of the "Danish individual Morten Frisch" explaining the extremes Brian Morris went to in order to try to prevent his study showing sexual difficulties in circumcised males from being published,
including breaking confidentiality norms of peer review.

Morris has slowly removed other Gilgal- and Quaintance-related material from his website. Follow the chain of news items in reverse order.

Brian Morris and Vernon Quaintance (head of the Gilgal Society)

It is not evidence of anything that Morris was associated with Quaintance before Quaintance was convicted of possessing child pornography or charged with crimes against boys, but Morris's credibility is undermined by his attempts to deny the association and the seriousness of Quantance's crime/s.

Morris: VQ was "fined a small amount" for "a misdemeanour" involving one videotape

It may be true that Morris has never met Quaintance in the flesh, but electronically they were on first-name terms.

Fact: VQ given a suspended prison sentence for three seriously abusive videotapes

Professor Morris has published with the academic circumcison advocate Cox and treats him as distinct from the circumcision pornography writer Badger (who also promotes anti-masturbation underwear), though there is every reason to suppose they are one and the same. For example, Morris's own website at one time identified the aboutcirc.org website with Cox, but later with Badger.

Professor Cox/Badger can also play fast and loose with fact:

Cox: Pythagoras was circumcised to enter the Library of Alexandria

- New Scientist, August 9, 2014

Warbruton: The Library of Alexandria opened long after Pythagoras' death

- New Scientist, September 6, 2014

Brian Morris and the Circumcision Foundation Academy of Australia

Professor Morris is a founding member of "the Circumcision Foundation of Australia" (2010). Some time between May 17, 2014 and June 18, 2014 it changed its name to "the Circumcision Academy of Australia", but for some reason it wants to rewrite its history and backdate the name change to 2010. Unfortunately, nobody has told Professor Morris, and his website was continuing to call it "Foundation" as recently as June 19, 2014

The words "evidence based" were added in September or October 2012. "Individual choice" to stay intact is impossible if it has been second-guessed by "parental choice", but the Foundademy thinks only of the choice to circumcise.

NB: The Twitter account @BrianMorrisCirc was not set up by Professor Morris (although it uses his photo) but by an enemy of his, although no friend of Intactivism - in other words, a troll.